Dimensionally Displaced
by ryo-oki-cabbit
Summary: A battle in space causes an unusual meeting for the Autobots. The Autobots have never seen anything like this before. The wizard just feels he probably should have stayed in bed. TF G1, HP post DH. No pairings, but subject to change.
1. Chapter 1 An Average Day at the Ark

Chapter 1

I (sadly) claim no possession on anything recognisable. Transformers belongs to Hasbro (I believe) and Harry Potter belongs to Ms J K Rowling. This is me mixing two excellent ingredients and hoping it tastes good!

Space the final frontier, or so most humans believed.

An average day on the Arc was passing by. All bots that had duties were off doing them. Hound and Trailbreaker were out on patrol (and finding the most off-road routes possible). Prowl had all but locked himself in his office in order to get his paperwork done. Red Alert _had_ locked himself in the monitor room, leaving Inferno trying to get him out. The twins were off doing goodness knows what, but it might have involved silly string, feathers and pink glitter, but we're probably better off not knowing. There was also some muttered swearing and clanking noises coming from the med bay, but no one was stupid enough to go and see, after all curiosity killed the photovoltaic cat.

Finally there was a remarkable lack of noise coming from the labs, that's not to say they weren't occupied; it was just usually more noticeable when Wheeljack was in there. In fact Wheeljack's lab was currently occupied by three mechs, Wheeljack, Perceptor and Skyfire. They were currently gathered around a device of some magnitude, about the same height as Bumblebee. The machine was cuboid in shape with one side open holding some form of lens. Perceptor was currently up to his elbows in wiring as he reattached some of the connections.

"The concept and design is exceptional Wheeljack I will concede, but when it comes to actual manufacture I would prefer you enquire to myself or Skyfire for a final verification. These couple of wires would have resulted in a premature termination of your creation." Wheeljack crossed his arms as his vocal fins dimmed slightly.

"I can't help it if the idea goes faster than I can build it. I'm usually thinking about the next stage while I'm in the previous!" He mumbled. Skyfire smiled kindly and placed a hand on Wheeljack's shoulder.

"Never mind, that's what friends are for, aren't they Perceptor? We help each other out. I personally am looking forward to setting this in orbit."

"Yes, definitely" Perceptor agreed. "And once we have it up and functional, some pressure should be diminished from our energy consumption."

"Of course," said Wheeljack patting the energy gatherer. "Once the SEC1 (Solar Energy Collector One) is up and running it should reduce our energy use significantly, and if we can build a network of these beauties it should cover almost all our energy needs. The humans do have some interesting ideas, Spike told me about it, but of course it's still in its youngling stages for them here since they don't have our advancements."

"True, have you also heard that they've also started to use solar convection currents to generate electricity? They're quite ingenious really." Skyfire paused for a moment and looked at the engineer. "By the way Wheeljack, have you asked Optimus Prime about our launch window and who is coming to help set it up?"

"Yep, he's outlined the final crew. Skyfire, you of course will be acting as transport and orbital expert. Myself, as main designer, while Perceptor stays here to act as ground control. Since Optimus is concerned about Decepticon activity he's coming too along with Jazz and Ironhide. Little Bumblebee's coming too in case we need a bot with small hands for some finer internal adjustment, though it shouldn't be necessary. Also Ratchet insisted on coming along to in case our invention happens to have any umm… explosive properties."

"That seems prudent. Is there really such a likelihood of Decepticons interrupting us? They have been reasonably unobtrusive after the Autobot X incident."

"Well Optimus isn't taking any chances. He definitely doesn't want any kind of energy generating technology falling into their hands. Some of those Cons could probably reverse-engineer some nasty things from this."

They fell silent for a while; Perceptor continued to poke about in the satellite's innards comparing the apparent connections to the schematic Wheeljack had made up. Wheeljack himself was watching Skyfire as he made a circuit about the device, inspecting it from all angles as though measuring something. When he finished circling he stopped next to Wheeljack.

"I've been looking at the SEC1 unit Wheeljack. How wide an angle can the lens receive light from, from the last calculations you gave me it was around 110 degrees. But looking at the design now it approximates to about 150."

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to give you that update Skyfire since you were on patrol at the time. I raised the lens slightly to catch more light. It also enables the energy subspace pocket to be larger. It increased the efficiency by 23.4%." His finials flashed an embarrassed pale pink.

"Impressive. Are you done then Perceptor?" Perceptor retracted his arm from the SEC1 and stood up smiling at the two taller scientists.

"All is operating at optimum proficiency, and I believe gentlemechs, ready for launch."

"Meteorological forecasts estimate the next perfect window for launch in six Earth days. That should give us plenty of time to prepare." said Skyfire grinning along with the other two. "I believe this calls for some small celebration. Shall we leave for the rec room?" This was met with resounding agreement from the others and they all trooped out of the lab.

What they failed to notice were a glowing pair of red eyes looking on from a ventilation duct above their heads. It had been lucky to find this data. It may not have got everything, but what it did know was important.

End of Chapter One!

:-:

This is a new venture into crossovers. This particular plot bunny has been nibbling me for a while. All comments welcomed and if you are going to flame, well, I'm just writing this for fun and to see if it's any good. Flames will clearly answer that question!

Timeline placement

In the Transformers 'verse the story takes place somewhere after the Autobot Spike incident. For Harry Potter it's somewhere after Deathly Hallows, it deviates from it in parts to tie this story together. Happy reading!


	2. Chapter 2 Not Quite the Final Frontier

The day of the launch dawned sunny and bright as predicted. The Ark was buzzing with activity since the prime launch window was before the desert heat rose too high.

Skyfire sat in his alt mode outside the Ark on the launch area as Brawn and Ironhide carefully manoeuvred the SEC1 unit into his hold and secured it. Optimus was standing with Prowl at the Ark's entrance watching as Wheeljack, and Jazz walked aboard Skyfire to his forward compartment. Ratchet came out the Ark arguing with Red Alert and followed by Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"I'm telling you Ratchet it's a mistake for you to go, it's bad enough that Prime and Jazz are going, but you're leaving us without a medic! What if the Decepticons attack while you're gone?" Red Alert's helm horns were showing very faint traces of sparks at the idea.

"There's no need to worry Red Alert, this trip will only take a couple of hours, the Decepticons don't even know about Wheeljack's invention so they won't attack while we're not here. Also Spike and Sparkplug can take care of any minor injuries while I'm gone. Besides even if there were an attack you've got these two troublemakers along with Prowl to keep them occupied until we get back, which wouldn't be long since Skyfire's the one carrying us."

The sparks receded at Ratchet's calming words. Ratchet then turned to the twins.

"You two better keep out of trouble while I'm gone, and stay out of my med bay! I don't need to redecorate it again on returning."

The twins put on a wounded look and lent on Ratchets shoulders, one on either side.

"Us Ratchet? Why we're shocked you would think us capable of such a thing! Right Sunny?"

"Don't call me Sunny!" The yellow Mech hissed and slapped the red helm. Sideswipe continued ignoring Sunstreaker.

"We hadn't even considered it. Everything in your _Med Bay _will be just as you left it."

Ratchet scowled at the brothers and shoved them off and stalked into the shuttle. The twins snickered together and slunk back into the Ark. Having witnessed this, Optimus indicated for Red Alert and Prowl to keep a closer eye on the twins. Lastly Bumblebee, Spike and Sparkplug came out the Ark looking back at something. They stopped at Prime's feet, Spike speaking up.

"Optimus, what are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looking so happy about?" Prowl interrupted before Optimus could reply.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Good luck up there Sir," Prowl then turned abruptly and marched back into the Ark. They watched him until he was out of sight.

"I think he's the one that's gonna need the luck," commented Sparkplug.

"Possibly, was there anything you needed, Spike, Sparkplug?"

"Nah Optimus, we just came to wish you luck," Spike sighed wistfully. "I just wish I could come with you. The last time I was in space I didn't have time to appreciate it."

Bumblebee chuckled and patted Spike on the shoulder.

"Heh, maybe next time Spike. This trip is a little too dangerous, but I'm sure Skyfire would love to show you your local solar system if you ask him."

"Sure Bumblebee. Well, good luck guys; we'll help keep an eye on the Ark."

"Thank you Spike. Come on Bumblebee, they're waiting for us," Optimus said, he and Bumblebee turned and walked the short distance to Skyfire. On entering they joined the other Autobots in Skyfire's forward compartment and strapped themselves in. Skyfire's voice came in over his internal audio speakers.

"Everybot strapped in tight? This launch will be a bit bumpier than our normal flights," Optimus looked over the other bots.

"Everyone is secure Skyfire. If all the pre-flight checks are complete then launch at will."

"All I needed was your word Optimus. All propulsion engines are go!"

The remaining pair of humans watched impressed as the gleaming white shuttle lifted off the desert rock, re-orientated itself vertically and then with a blaze of booster rockets shot straight up into the atmosphere. The force of the wind from the launch whipping up sand and dirt and also sent the watching pair onto their backs, they continued to watch the rising ship from their supine position before standing up and making their way back into the Ark.

: :

"Woohoo! Now that's some serious speed Mech! Skyfire, I didn't know you could do that."

While the other mechs were also impressed by Skyfire's speed punching through the Earth's atmosphere it was Jazz who was seriously enjoyed the turn of speed and the associated G-forces. Wheeljack turned to Jazz.

"This is nothing Jazz, you should have seen him fly when we were approaching Cybertron last time. Skyfire flew rings around the automated defence systems," Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

"It was nothing special, Wheeljack."

"Nothing special? Skyfire you think too little of yourself. We wouldn't have been able to get there without you. Now come on we're nearly there already."

Everyone could feel the change as the atmosphere no longer impeded Skyfire's space propulsion jets and the journey smoothed out from the lack of turbulence. Looking out the window they could see the round curve of Earth. Such different worlds, the blue and green planet Earth dusted with white cloud and ice compared with the elegant metal cities, natural crystal gardens and the perpetual lights that came from Cybertron.

"Heh, Hound would love to see this," said Bumblebee with a chuckle. "It's so...organic even from up here."

"That's true; I don't think even Perceptor, Wheeljack and Skyfire combined could make something to emulate the fragile system down there," commented Ratchet.

"We could always try eh Skyfire? But then again I rather like Earth for its individuality. Alright Mechs we are approaching the Sun-synchronous orbit above Earth. Time to get ready for a little space walk,"

That said Wheeljack unclasped his harness and started moving towards the rear of the shuttle. The other Autobot followed suit removing their harnesses and heading towards Skyfire's rear airlock. Once at the airlock Optimus Prime started to organise everyone.

"Now, Wheeljack is taking the lead here in order to get the satellite into optimum position. Ironhide and Wheeljack will be doing the main positioning, while Jazz, Bumblebee and I will be keeping watch. Ratchet will remain on-board Skyfire so he can maintain radio contact with Perceptor on Earth. Skyfire will be monitoring the positioning of the satellite while checking the wavebands for any Decepticon activity. Now is everyone clear? Good, Autobots, let's get to work."

"Alright guys I'm going to reduce the gravity in the loading bay so you can manoeuvre the satellite out into space more easily."

The Mechs aboard could feel gravity loosen its grasp on them. Bumblebee giggled as he easily bounced up to the ceiling and lightly floated back down. Wheeljack beckoned Ironhide over to the SEC1 unit and both started to remove the fastenings. Once it was loose Wheeljack and Ironhide easily lifted the satellite with the reduced gravity.

"Opening main airlock set your vents shut before exiting the atmospheric containment shield and watch out for micro-meteors!"

"Roger that Skyfire. Now I think Optimus and Jazz should lead, me and Ironhide'll follow guiding the SEC1 unit with Bee last, OK?"

"That should be fine Wheeljack. Let's go Jazz; we'll set up a standing perimeter around the SEC1 unit. Bumblebee you take a post at Skyfire's forward hull and help keep guard," Jazz couldn't resist quipping.

"I think you mean floating perimeter boss bot. Let's go."

The Mechs stepped into open space. Gravity no longer having an effect they used the air stored in their vents to propel themselves into their designated positions. All communications were now by their internal com system due to the vacuum of space rendering external speech impossible.

Optimus and Jazz took positions circling the SEC1 unit, Optimus a horizontal circle and Jazz and vertical one respectively. Bee manoeuvred over Skyfire's body and came to a stop effectively sitting on the front of his right wing. All three bots were scanning the surroundings for the merest hint of Decepticon presence. As nothing became obvious Optimus waved the other two bots out into open space with their precious cargo.

Wheeljack and Ironhide guided the satellite into prime position, Skyfire adding spatial coordinates until he was content with it. Wheeljack then oriented the lens to face the Sun. His comment came across the coms.

_"Well guys, it's in position. Everyone retreat a way and I'll get it going remotely."_

_"I wish you could do that with all your slagging inventions!" _Ratchet replied acerbically before anything official could be said.

_"Everyone's clear Wheeljack and the waves are clear of any Decepticon transmissions. Set it going, with Optimus's permission of course," _Skyfire confirmed everyone's positioning.

_"Permission granted Wheeljack. Power on."_

_"Power on," _repeated Wheeljack tapping a panel in his forearm.

A light humming seemed to build in the satellite. Ironhide retreated a bit further as Wheeljack moved closer when it didn't explode immediately. He inspected the readout and compared it with his remote data readings. His sensory panels seemed to start to glow and increase in brightness with his glee as he read over results.

_"Skyfire can you let Ratchet patch me through to Perceptor? Let's see if Teletraan One is picking this up."_

_"Certainly Wheeljack, com line is open."_

_"Perceptor, this is Wheeljack. Do you read?"_

_"Perceptor present Wheeljack. Is everything satisfactory up there?"_

_"We're all in position up here. How's the linkup with Teletraan One? We've just powered on here and the readings from SEC1 are well within predicted boundaries."_

_"They are? Excellent, Teletraan One is distinguishing SEC1's signal on the tight wave band we assigned it. I can also inform you that SEC1 has already attained 50% capacity; energy transmission should begin in approximately ten minutes when it reaches 80%. Of course as we revise security codes and encryption here the SEC1 unit should be able to similarly advance. It should be nigh on unfeasible for the Decepticons to pick it up. "_

_"Guess again Autodolts!" _The rasping voice echoed over an open com channel.

The Autobots turned. There were the Decepticons led by a smirking Megatron, flanking him on either side were Starscream and Soundwave with Thundercracker and an exhausted looking Skywarp.

_"Decepticons just appeared 100 metres behind my position," _the harried voice of Skyfire stated somewhat belatedly.

_"Coms now locked to current party only, Decepticons can no longer listen in."_

Megatron not caring about security at this point continued on the open channel.

_"Now you Autobot fools will hand over that useful bit of technology. I'm sure Shockwave can develop some interesting uses for it…"_

Optimus moved forward as Megatron tailed off.

_"We'll never let you take it Megatron. This device could aid in solving Cybertron's energy crisis! Why subvert its use?"_

_"Use human ideals, hah! Anyway Cybertron lacks a light source like the fleshlings' star. There are also much quicker ways of getting the Energon we need that don't involve waiting for Cybertron to rust," _Megatron replied with disgust.

_"Decepticons, attack! Seize the satellite."_

Optimus quickly started issuing orders.

_"Autobots form a perimeter around the satellite, Ratchet join us out here. Skyfire you've got best manoeuvrability up here try to occupy the seekers and draw them away. Everyone else be careful we are at a disadvantage. Remain close to the satellite and fire at will."_

_"Yes Sir!" _Replied the rest of the bots, bar Skyfire, formed a close band around the SEC1 unit, guarding it and each other's backs.

The seekers took their alt modes and started a strafing run against the Autobots around the satellite, Skywarp lagging slightly. Megatron gave an evil grin and started blasting the Autobots with his arm cannon while closing the gap with Optimus Prime. Soundwave calmly ejected Lazerbeak and Ravage while starting to fire on the Autobots.

In turn the Autobots returned fire on the Decepticons aiming to keep them as far away as possible. Skyfire in a show of daring began a run of his own against the seekers barrelling through their formation drawing their ire and fire as they about faced to go after the large shuttle. While this evened the odds considerably to four on six the remaining Decepticons had the advantage of heel thrusters or wings greatly increasing their ability to outmanoeuvre the Autobots.

The Decepticons were doing a good job of keeping the Autobots on their peds continuously circling further and closer trying to get a clear shot. The Autobots returned fire as best they could but were taking more damage as they could not move far from the satellite effectively pinning them on the spot.

The battle continued in this fashion for a short while until a flash of light caught everyone's attention. Skyfire had managed in his game of cat and mouse with the seekers to ram into Thundercracker's side, taking out a turbine and removing him from the battle. The remaining pair of seekers in their anger barged into Skyfire shoving him on a new course. The knock on effect was that as they rebounded off each other the seekers were pushed away from the fight while Skyfire was sent hurtling towards the circle of Autobots.

_"Look out!"_

In the brief time they had to react and in order to stay together the Autobots were forced to grab a hold of Skyfire or be scattered away from the satellite. The SEC1 unit was not left untouched and was caught and wedged up on top of Skyfire's booster pack. Giving up on attaining their previous formation Optimus quickly took a position on top of Skyfire's booster with the satellite. The other Autobots following his lead all took positions on Skyfire's back as Skyfire stabilized his movement.

_"Skyfire, you're going to have to keep away from the Decepticons while we defend you. Autobots keep firing."_

_"Roger that Optimus. Better hold on tight guys, I'll try to put some more distance between us and them."_

The Autobots were in a difficult spot now. They had to maintain position on Skyfire to defend him and the satellite. Skyfire was doing his best with the injuries he had already sustained. But there were still two active seekers, one with the ability to warp, Skyfire was starting to tire and was being herded into a circle of waiting Decepticons while the mechs on him gave their best to keep them away.

_"Don't you see it is hopeless Optimus? Now I'll have the device and your destruction!" _Megatron cried over the coms.

_"Never Megatron, if we have to we'll jettison it and let it burn up as it falls to Earth!"_

_"Not going to happen Prime," _Megatron forgetting the open com called to the Seekers.

_"Starscream, Skywarp. Seize the device from the shuttles back. Bring it to me."_

The warning gave Optimus the chance to see Skywarp warp out and enabled him to predict the location of his reappearance. Quickly turning he was able to put a shot straight into Skywarp's path as he came at the SEC1 unit from behind. With a squawk of surprise he warped back out of sight. A blast from behind took Optimus by surprise as two shots from Starscream's null-rays came flying towards him. Dodging the first, the second clipped his hand disarming him of his blaster.

Before anyone could take advantage of this a high shrieking blast of radio waves came over the coms momentarily disabling everyone. They all turned to the source of the noise, the SEC1 unit behind Optimus. The lens was cracked and there were arks of electricity starting to crackle from corner to corner. Then a bright light began to emit from the lens, blinding in its intensity it radiated out, forcing everyone to shutter and then offline their optics. The light spread out covering Skyfire and all those aboard him. Then suddenly the light was gone.

Megatron and the other Decepticons rebooted their optics ready to attack the Autobots, but there was nothing there. The space that previously held seven Autobots and one strange device was empty, not even debris was present where they had been. Megatron started to shake in anger, the device was gone, and the Autobots escaped. Everyone else backed away, recognising the imminent eruption.

_"__STARSCREAM__! This is entirely your fault!"_

End of Chapter 2!


	3. Chapter 3 Green All Round?

Awakening was a slow and painful process. A battered CPU sluggishly started transmitting signals to sore servos, booting sensory equipment, making everything uncomfortably loud and bright.

"Ohhh, I hope last night was good enough to make up for me feeling so slagging awful now," A voice moaned from the middle of a bright forest glade. The muddy white and black Mech that the noise came from brought a servo to rest over his visor, reducing the light that seared his optics.

"Did some bot get Prime's license plate? I think he ran me over."

With whining joints Jazz slowly sat up, one servo still over his visor, the other supporting him. His CPU finally booted fully and recalibrated hearing and optical intakes to less overwhelming levels. The reduction in pain allowed the last memories before off-lining to come to the front of his memory banks. Jazz bolted fully upright looking about himself wildly. His current situation and location bore no resemblance to where he was previously.

The first thing he noticed was green, organic green. He was sitting on a bed of grass, in a large clearing, surrounded by enormous trees, early morning sunlight breaking through the green canopy. Struggling to stand up, he swayed a bit as he rushed to the very centre of the clearing. For directly in the middle of the clearing was the alt mode of Skyfire surrounded by the other Autobots, who must have been flung off on landing.

Making a quick decision Jazz skidded to a halt on the dewy grass at Ratchet's side. Kneeling down he checked him over for injuries before starting to shake the medic's shoulder.

"Ratchet, Ratchet m' mech. Wake up."

This managed to generate a low growl from the medic that nearly made Jazz hesitate to carry on.

"Come on Ratchet. Wake up before Sunny and Sides steal your wrenches!"

This got a result. Lurching to a sitting position Ratchet roared as he lunged at his perceived harassers.

"Slagging twins! Frag off! It's too early for this!" CPU catching up to what was really happening Ratchet rounded on a sheepish looking Jazz.

"Yo Ratchet. Sorry, had ta' get you up. Need you to check on the others," Looking about Ratchet exclaimed something under his breath then, while starting a personal scan, fired questions at Jazz.

"Others, what's wrong with them? Where are we? Why are we no longer in space?"

On receiving a mostly green reading Ratchet heaved himself to his peds along with Jazz. Ratchet looked about the clearing, medical protocols kicked in as he made his way to the nearest bot, Jazz trailing behind answering his questions.

"As far as the others go, unconscious from what I can tell, s'why I woke you first. As to the to the other two questions Primus knows because I sure as Pit don't recognise our surroundings, apart from us likely being back on the Earth. Wheeljack and Skyfire might know more."

Ratchet considered this while working to awaken Bumblebee.

"It certainly looks organic enough to be Earth, but I've never been anywhere with trees quite this tall. I'll finish awakening the rest of us while you try and ascertain our location. Try to contact the Ark if they're in range."

A groan came from Bumblebee as he on-lined to the faces of Ratchet and Jazz. Pulling Bee to his feet Ratchet added.

"Take Bumblebee with you since he scans clear,"

Saying this he pushed dazed the Minibot towards Jazz and strode off to take care of the other Mechs.

Explaining the little he knew to Bee as they walked, Jazz led the yellow bot on a circuit of the glade inspecting the trees, the bushes, anything to give some clue to their location. While they walked Ratchet went about the task of waking the others and dealing with any Decepticon dealt injuries they had. Once they had circled the clearing they gathered with the other awakened Mechs in the centre of the glade. Jazz had already tried multiple times to contact the Ark and had received only static in reply, they were out of range.

The last two Mechs to be awakened were Optimus and Skyfire. The only reason they'd been left until last was that the Prime was found lying across Skyfire's back in his off-lined state. Ratchet was wary to wake Skyfire first in case his shifting dumped Optimus off his back and added to any injuries obtained from his closeness to the demolition of the satellite.

Getting a boost from Ironhide and Wheeljack easily put him on Skyfire's laser marked body, he made his way over to Optimus and proceeded to scan him. Apart from a few burns and a loose audio coupling, that was easily fixed, their leader appeared unharmed. Giving him a light jolt easily woke him.

Optimus sat up slowly with quiet dignity and looked to Ratchet.

"Report."

"Well Optimus to quote a human saying 'We aren't in Kansas anymore'. In fact we seem to be back on Earth which puzzles me more. Everyone bar Skyfire is up and functioning with minimal injuries. None of us recognise the local fauna, but I need Skyfire's input to confirm that."

Optimus looked at Ratchet quizzically.

"Why is Skyfire not awakened yet?"

Ratchet replied deadpan.

"You are laying on him Optimus."

"Oh," he looked down at the red booster he was sitting on. Standing up he leapt the distance to the ground and was quickly joined by the other Autobots as Ratchet went to finally wake Skyfire. Gathering what data there was from his soldiers was soon interrupted by the sound of transformation, as Skyfire moved into root-mode.

They all sat in the centre of the clearing while Skyfire went to investigate the trees. He called out his findings as he noted their species.

"They mostly appear to be deciduous species along with the odd conifer. Most are usually found on the American and European continents in temperate climates. My only confusion is the size and colour of their leaves."

"What's wrong with their leaves?" asked Ironhide. "Jes' look like leaves to meh."

Firing off his heel thrusters Skyfire moved to one of the lower branches and tugged off a leaf.

"From what I can ascertain this leaf is an oak leaf. The size of it is remarkably large since I could normally carry hundreds in one hand. The other thing is the colour, it's green. If you will remember we were in late autumn when we left, this leaf should no longer be on the tree and be brown."

"So what you're saying," said Wheeljack as he received the leaf from Skyfire. "Is that we could as easily be in France as the USA, that it's the wrong season and the trees here are too big. That doesn't narrow it down much."

"No but with some exploration, we should be able to ascertain...," Skyfire trailed off as a light growling sound came from the edge of the glade.

They all looked to see Bumblebee, who had gotten bored and wandered closer to the edge of the clearing. He was staring intently into the thick foliage and as they looked where he was they were able to see a large glowing pair of eyes level with Bee's head.

_"Umm, guys?" _He commed, backing up a bit_" Any idea what it is?"_

As he continued to back up, the eyes that were fixed on Bumblebee lowered. Bumblebee with some form of instinct (or possibly from too much exposure to Ravage) turned and bolted for the nearest edge of the clearing as a large orange blur burst from the bush in hot pursuit and fairly flew after him out of the clearing. A dopplering cry echoed back to the remaining Autobots.

"Help me!"

"After them, we need to save Bumblebee!" cried Optimus Prime, leaping to his feet and following the chase out of the glade, quickly followed by the rest of the Autobots.

::

A big thank you to my beta MissCHSparkles for her most excellent work! Try her work it's fantastic.


	4. Chapter 4 Flight of the Bumblebee

Blindly he ran through the thick underbrush, ducking twigs, splashing through puddles and jumping potholes. All the while the enormous trees loomed over him and the sound of pursuit from behind pushed him to run faster. He would have dearly loved to assume his faster alt mode, but the terrain was far too rough to even contemplate it. Skirting round the roots of a tree he chanced a glance behind him.

It was a _cat_, an enormous cat! Its head must have been level with his shoulders and from head to tail about twice his length. It could have been a tiger he supposed, it was orange and the movement of shadows from the branches gave an indication of stripes. He could feel the whining of his overworked joints, as his air vents wheezed to cool his systems. This was another reason Mechs usually took to their alt modes, purely for less mechanical stress.

Chancing another glance, as he stumbled under an arching root, revealed he had gained a little distance on the cat, but he couldn't keep up the pace indefinitely. Seeing a break in the undergrowth to his right, he made a sharp turn, hoping to make the cat overshoot and provide himself with better terrain.

Success! The cat was further behind and seemed to be slowing down.

He felt himself trip on something underfoot and his world spun as he somersaulted aft over helm, finishing up on his front laying over something. Looking where he had come from he started to try and get to his feet, he could see the cat was stalking closer, waiting for him to start running again, ready to pounce on him.

He felt something large grasp him around the waist and raise him up off the floor. Wildly twisting, he looked the other way to see two long columns passing him by as he rose. Looking down, he saw the ground fall away as he rose still higher. Looking at what was holding him nearly caused his CPU to crash. It was ridiculous, but they looked like gigantic organic hands.

He felt himself being reoriented to an upright position and desperately tried to look behind himself. He could see what appeared to be a shoulder and an elbow, but the angle was too awkward to look at the being properly. His back came into contact with soft material as one hand released him, while the other held him close to the beings chest. Now looking up, he could hardly believe his optics, but everything added up in a bizarre kind of logic. He was being held, by a _human_.

A voice vibrated from the chest Bumblebee rested on and as he looked forward, he could now see the cat that had been chasing him. The cat was a large ginger tom, big and very fluffy. It was not a handsome cat and its face was flat, as though it had run into one too many walls. It was looking at him and the human with large piercing yellow eyes, in a sulky fashion. His saviour pointed his free hand at it and his voice rang out.

"Leave it alone Crookshanks! Get out of here!"

The cat flicked its tail in an angry lash and stomped (as much as a cat could) slowly back into the undergrowth. Before it had gone too far its ears perked up, then its tail suddenly bristled out and it shot off into the bushes.

The reasons for this, much to Bumblebee's relief, were the rest of the Autobots, Optimus in the lead, crashing through the shrubs onto the path. They slid to a stop as they found their path blocked. The reason for their chase held in the grasp of the reason for the blocked path. The Autobots tensed and backed up slightly, while Bee felt him being held more firmly. There was a silent standoff, because although Bee was safe in the being's grasp for now, Skyfire, the largest of the Autobots, barely came up to this person's waist.

::

It was early morning, when a buzzing in his mind brought him to groggy wakefulness. Sitting up and contemplating the clock on his bedside table revealed it to be the interminable time of 4:30 in the morning. Falling back onto the bed with a 'humph' he pulled the pillow over his face and cried out in annoyance.

It was bad enough that the callout last night had resulted in the arrest of several drunken and disorderly people for some rather weird spell damage, walls weren't meant to melt dammit! The fact that they had only gotten the last of them packed away at gone midnight made his current situation more than irritating. The buzzing still continued to assault his senses, so with a dramatic sigh he flung his pillow to the far side of the room and got up. He stumbled across the room and nearly fell into his wardrobe. The early morning light gave him enough colour sense find his uniform from last night.

With the wards still ringing in his ears he got dressed, armed himself and stalked out of his front door and in the direction of the disturbance. Gods help whatever had interrupted his rest, because he was not feeling so inclined at the moment.

Arriving at the forest on the edge of the wards, he entered, sticking closely to the paths that went in the correct direction. His mood had mellowed slightly since the ward alert waned in its intensity as he approached its source. The alarm seemed to originate from around the ley line junction, just east of the acromantula nests thankfully. He continued on for a while, as the light slowly started to shine more strongly through the canopy of the trees. Suddenly, a sound ahead and to the left caused him to stop. The noise was getting closer, like something was crashing through the bushes, he couldn't see it though.

Then a small creature burst from the undergrowth, made a sharp right and came rushing towards him. All he really saw was a small, bright yellow, figure before it seemed to trip on something and landed sprawled over his left foot.

Looking in the same direction it did revealed a smug looking Crookshanks, the cat that had the proverbial cream, swaggering closer. Thinking to save at least one poor creature from the mighty ginger hunter, he reached down and scooped up the little thing. He was surprised when his hands came into contact with warm metal. He could feel it wriggling in his hands, as it probably tried to get away. It seemed to calm down slightly as he held it to his chest with one hand, while sending the miffed Crookshanks away.

"Leave it alone Crookshanks! Get out of here!"

As usual for a part kneazle, Crookshanks was better able to impart his anger on the situation as he stalked off, hunt disappointingly cancelled. Harry was surprised though when Crookshanks suddenly took off like a rocket. Also hearing the approaching racket he turned in its direction, whilst still holding the little metal creature to his chest.

He was expecting possibly the acromantulas, he was close to their territory, but surely it was too light already, they were nocturnal. It was a surprise then when six more metal creatures of varying sizes and colours rushed out of the bushes from where the yellow one did. They skidded to a halt on seeing him and he guessed the missing member of their group. They seemed to tense up and the red one seemed to be reaching for something, a weapon?

Harry sighed, well, this was just perfect. He really should have stayed in bed, damn the wards!

* * *

Well , they finally met up. How about that?

Sorry about the slow update, life and all getting in the way.


End file.
